We worked with a major ad agency here on measuring the online components of a major ad campaign for a large advertiser. Our  main study objective was to assess the effectiveness of the online campaign at increasing awareness, ad awareness, sponsorship association and purchase intent. Since our product is completely new to Puerto Rico (The Puerto Rico office mainly supports the New York office) it was a very rewarding experience to work on. We worked with US publishers on this study, but the challenging part was introducing our product to some local sites, specifically local news outlets ENDI.com and Wapa.tv, since they were not familiar with survey recruitment.  Even though we faced some issues, recruitment was remarkably positive, and all people involved were really responsive to our demands.

Some of my interests outside of Safecount include music, family and friends. And comic books.

I wouldn’t admit this to most people, but I have a bit of an obsession with celebrity gossip.  I like to read a lot of celebrity news columns and blogs such as People, Perezhilton, TMZ, The Superficial, Dlisted, and so on.  For me, it’s mostly about the fashion. But I can’t lie; I’m also intrigued to know what’s going on in their lives.  Which, at times, can be more interesting then gossip overheard at the Dynamic Logic water cooler.

Last May, our researchers were given the opportunity to conduct research in their field of interest. At the time I was working on two beauty campaigns, both involving celebrity sponsorships so exploring the effectiveness of such endorsements was an easy pick for me. Although celebrities are commonly used in advertising, their influence on the brand and its consumers seems somewhat unclear.  In my research I hoped to discover how a celebrity’s presence in an online ad impacts a consumer’s recognition of the brand and their purchase decision.

With the help of our MarketNorms Database, I was able to isolate campaigns including celebrities against those with unknown humans and identify their effect on Aided Brand Awareness and Purchase Intent.  My findings indicate that the endorsement of a brand by a celebrity can be persuasive.  Yet, their presence may demand too much attention, taking away from the advertised brand.  Thus the appearance of Ellen Degenerse Catherine Zeta Jones or Tiger Woods may attract internet viewers to the ad, but not necessarily generate awareness for the advertised brand.  As a result, if the primary goal of a campaign is to increase awareness of a brand, a celebrity’s presence may not be helpful.

Meanwhile, consumers may find a celebrity’s endorsements to be sincere, leading to an increased likelihood to purchase the brand in the future.  As a result, the presence of a celebrity in an online ad campaign which seeks to increase sales may be more effective.

While celebrity endorsements can have both positive and negative effects on an ad campaign, the one constant is that at the very least, they will generate a second look by avid gossip mongers like myself.

I know I only work in research, so my opinion may hold only so much validity. Just as an observation however, I would guess that when publishing an article discussing CBC’s mandate to feature at least 50% Canadian content. It might make sense to master the spelling of the word “English” correctly in your illustration slide before you rush that bad boy to publication.

Just a thought…

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